[violence] genital mutilation

Promising to fight the practice of FGM should be a winning strategy for someone hoping to be elected to parliament this Saturday in Sierra Leone -- where about 90 percent of girls and women undergo FGM, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Egypt's state-appointed Grand Mufti said on Sunday that female genital cutting was forbidden by Islam after an 11-year-old girl died while undergoing the procedure at a private medical clinic in southern Egypt.

The decision by Muslim religious leaders in northeastern Kenya to talk about the dangers of female genital mutilation (FGM) during Friday prayers has turned into a significant campaign against the practice.